[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 14, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
      INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVES NEWSLETTER DIALOGUE

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to draw my colleagues' 
attention to an effective tool in addressing the problem of television 
violence. The Institute for Mental Health Initiatives, a public 
nonprofit institute funded by grants and donations, employs a public 
health approach to promote mental health and prevent mental health 
disorders. The institute collects and synthesizes the most current 
behavioral science research, and then presents the information to the 
public. One of its successes to date is its quarterly newsletter called 
Dialogue, which illustrates for writers and producers how to avoid 
violent confrontations on screen. Each issue of the newsletter focuses 
on an emotional issue, such as loss, violence, fear or hatred, citing 
movies and programs that illustrate sensitive treatment of each issue, 
and using psychological research to support its ideas. Dialogue wants 
TV and movie writers to write more realistic characters, which they 
hope will mean less gratuitous violence and better role models for kids 
on TV.
  This effort is not about trying to limit creativity. Instead, it is 
an attempt to provide support for those writers and producers 
challenging themselves to portray complex human emotions without 
resorting to violent images.
  Many Hollywood writers have cited Dialogue as a resource in their 
work. I hope they continue to take advantage of the institute's work, 
and I applaud the institute for its continued contribution to 
addressing the issue of television violence. I ask that the text of a 
Wall Street Journal article on this issue be inserted into the Record 
at this point.
  The article follows:

                     [From the Wall Street Journal]

           Tip Sheet for Scriptwriters: Fight Less, Talk More

                           (By Yi-Hsin Chang)

       NBC liked television-writer Connie Bottinelli's treatment 
     for a ``Movie of the Week'' but worried it was too violent. 
     So Ms. Bottinelli called on Dialogue.
       Dialogue, a newsletter distributed by a small, Washington-
     based nonprofit group called the Institute for Mental Health 
     Initiatives, illustrates for writers and producers how to 
     avoid violent confrontations on screen. The institute started 
     the four-page newsletter last winter and distributes 20,000 
     copies quarterly, mostly to creators of movies and TV shows 
     and often for free.
       Ms. Bottinelli's story for NBC was about Vincent, a 
     convicted mobster who is found dead in his prison cell. His 
     wife sues law-enforcement authorities for being responsible 
     for his death.
       After looking at the newsletter, Ms Bottinelli, who lives 
     in Philadelphia, wrote her script to play down Vincent's 
     violent acts and emphasize instead his imprisonment and 
     death. She even added a scene in which Vincent suffers 
     humiliation so that viewers would understand his rage. NBC 
     liked the changes and bought the script.
       The Institute for Mental Health Initiatives gets funding 
     from donations, subscriptions, consultation fees and a $1 
     million endowment from its founder and president, 
     psychologist Rhoda Baruch.
       For each issue, the Dialogue staff meets and decides to 
     focus on an emotional issue, such as loss, violence, fear or 
     hatred. Then the group comes up with movies and TV programs 
     that illustrate sensitive treatment, as well as recent 
     psychological research to back up their ideas. Dialogue wants 
     TV and movie writers to write more realistic characters, 
     which they hope will mean less gratuitous violence and better 
     role models for kids on TV.
       For example, in a plot where a man and a woman are arguing, 
     allow them to calm down and then talk about how they feel, 
     says Edith Grotberg, a developmental psychologist and 
     Dialogue's managing editor. ``This is more exciting because 
     you're talking about real feelings, which is what people 
     really like.''
       Robert Wilcox, a TV and screenwriter is Sherman Oaks, 
     Calif., says he makes it a habit to underline key paragraphs 
     in the newsletter and refer to back issues. ``I find it very 
     helpful.'' he says. ``A screenwriter has to get below the 
     surface. You have to understand your characters. But, he 
     adds, ``I'm not going to take violence out if I feel it is 
     needed to my story.''
       The first issue of Dialogue examined the feeling of loss, 
     which is often ignored when people die in movies or TV shows. 
     One article cited the film ``Terms of Endearment'' as an 
     ``exemplary model of the treatment of loss.''
       The issue on risk-taking quotes recent psychology journals 
     and uses characters in the movies ``Thelma and Louise'' and 
     ``A River Runs Through It'' as examples of thrill-seekers. 
     The newsletter plans to address fear and hatred in upcoming 
     issues.
       The two most recent issues, however were devoted to the 
     realistic and responsible portrayal of violence. Of Steven 
     Spielberg's ``Schindler's List'' it said: ``Spielberg could 
     not have told his story without showing the horror against 
     which Schindler acted. He does not pull away from the 
     violence. But he does render it responsibly.''
       And Dialogue emphasizes alternatives to violence. ``We like 
     to push things from the healthy side, not the sick side, so 
     to speak,'' says Suzanne Stutman, a practicing 
     psychotherapist and the institute's executive director. ``We 
     in no way are trying to limit creatively. In fact, it's the 
     opposite. The more information these people have to create 
     three-dimensional characters, the more creative they can 
     be.''
       The writer of ``Terminator 2.'' William Wisher, who had 
     never heard of Dialogue, doesn't think brutal movies make 
     people act violently. ``I don't think making films or making 
     television shows in which everyone is nice to everyone makes 
     for interesting stories.'' He says, adding that all stories 
     need conflict, and ``all conflict is inherently violent.''
       But Isabel Storey, a writer and producer in Santa Monica, 
     Calif., who helped make ``Rescue 911,'' thinks Dialogue can 
     be effective. ``I personally think there's too much 
     gratuitous violence on TV, and I think this is an effort in 
     the right direction.'' she says.
       Ms. Bottinelli, who is working on three more television 
     movies, says that she has applied information from Dialogue 
     to many of her characters. She calls the newsletter 
     ``priceless'' and a good consultant----she rereads the issues 
     before beginning a new script. ``This has a forever shelf 
     life for me.'' she says.

                          ____________________